Stoker



Febv 10, 1942. E. J. SOURBER STOKER INVENTOR B Rv u R o o S A J .A L R Patented Feb. 10, 1942 STOKER Earl .l2 Sourber, Pottsville, Pa., assignor to Klein Stove Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a partnership Application May 22, 1940, Serial No. 336,552

(Cl. 11G-45) 4 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful Stoker of the type used for automatically feeding coal from -a hopper into a fire pot or retort in a continuous manner and in conjunction with a blower for insuring efficient combustion.

Automatic stokers of this character are usually employed to burn relatively, finely granulated coal which is fed from the hopper into the retort by means of a worin, there also being a conduit leading to a point below the retort for delivering air under pressure into the fire bed through relatively small openings in the wall of the retort. Inconstructions of this character some fine particles of coal or dust or ashes fall through the holes in the body of the retort and collect directly below it thus gradually obstructing the path of the air blown upwardly through the retort and my invention therefore more particularly resides in the provision of improved means for constantly removing the dust and coal particles and feeding the same back into the retort thus insuring maximum efciency in the delivery of air for the maintenance of proper combustion.

Other novel features of construction and advantage will be more clearly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawing in which;

Fig. 1 represents a View partly in top plan view and partly in section, certain parts being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 represents a fragmentary section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, certain parts being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 4 represents a vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, 6 designates a fire pot which is of any desired size and shape and through the wall of which are strategically distributed the openings 8. I designates a wind box which is in the nature of a conduit into which air under pressure is delivered through the inlet I2 from a blower or the like (not shown). The wind box I0, as best seen from Fig. 2, leads directly to a point below the re pot 6 so that the air is delivered in the direction of the arrow to pass through the openings 8. The fire pot is provided with an exterior wall I4 which is bolted or otherwise secured as at I6 to the wind box so that the air delivered through the wind box Ill is confined within the wall I4. Preferably positioned within and coactual with the Wind box I0 is the coal conduit I8 which encloses a feed worm 2E! on the shaft 22. The coal is fed to the worm 2i! from the hopper 24. The shaft 22 is provided with suitable thrust bearings and is driven by the sprocket chain or the like 25 from a source of power not shown. The coal fed by the worm 29' passes upwardly into the retort through the bottom opening 28. On the sha-fi; 22 is also mounted a small worm 3l] which has a reverse thread from the worm 2D, that is, if the Worm 28 has a right hand thread, the worm S8 will have a left hand thread so that the worm 30 will tend to carry from portion of the wind box below the retort E dust and ashes and convey them back into the retort through the opening 28. The worm 38, however, can only pick up dust and the like which has accumulated in the wind box to the height of the worm 30. This will leave a solid bed of dust and ashes throughout the bottom portion of the wind box below the retort 6. In order to remove the dust from the remaining 'portion of the wind box I have provided two auxiliary shafts 32 and 34 which carry the short worms 3G and 38 respectively. These shafts and worms are disposed to either side of the main shaft; 22 and worm 28 and below the same as best seen in Fig. 4. The worms 3S and 38 have the same thread as the worm 20, that is, they serve to propel from right to left as Viewed in Figs. 2 and 3. The shafts 32 and 34 are propelled by the gears 48 and 42 which mesh with the gear 44 on the shaft 22. As the shaft 22 is turned it also turns the shafts 32 and 34 and the worms 36 and 38 which substantially scrape the bottom of the wind box I Il on either side and be low the coal tube I8. This results in propelling any dust which falls into the wind box through the openings 8 on either side and below the coal tube I8 towards the end wall 46 of the wind box, where the dust or ashes are collected, into a pile and thus made accessible to the reverse thread worm 38 which draws such ashes or dust from left to right in Figs. 2 and 3 and feeds the same up into the iire pot 6 together with the coal fed into the fire pot 6 from the reverse direction. In this way the end of the wind box Il) immediately below the retort 8 is kept completely unobstructed at al1 times so that there is no interference with the flow of air from the inlet I2 and through the openings 8.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stoker comprising a perforated retort, a hopper, a feed tube interconnecting said hopper with said retort, a Worm in said feed tube for propelling fuel from said hopper to said retort, a wind box enclosing at least the portion of said feed tube below said retort and adapted to deliver air upwardly through the perforations in said retort, therebeing an opening leading from the end of said feed tube into said wind box, a reverse worm operating in said opening for removing debris that falls into said wind box from said perforated retort and feeding such debris back into said retort, and an auxiliary worm disposed in said wind box below said retort, and outside of said feed tube, for propelling debris from areas of said wind box out of reach of said reverse thread worm towards said reverse thread worm.

2. A stoker comprising a perforated retort, a hopper, a feed tube interconnecting said hopper with said retort, a worm in said feed tube for propelling fuel from said hopper to said retort, a wind box enclosing at least the portion of said feed tube below said retort and adapted to deliver air upwardly through the perforations in said retort, there being an opening leading from the end of said feed tube into said wind box, a reverse worm operating in said opening for removing debris that falls into said wind box from said perforated retort and feeding such debris back into said retort, and a pair of auxiliary worms disposed on either side of the portion of the feed tube below said retort for propelling debris from areas of said wind box out of reach of said reverse thread worm towards said reverse thread worm.

3. A stoker comprising a perforated retort, a hopper, a feed tube interconnecting said hopper with said retort, a worm in said feed tube for propelling fuel from said hopper to said retort, a

wind box enclosing at least the portion of said feed tube below said retort and adapted to deliver air upwardly through the perforations in said retort, there being an opening leading from the end of said feed tube into said wind box, a reverse worm operating in said opening for removing debris that falls into said wind box from said perforated retort and feeding such debris back into said retort, and a pair of auxiliary worms disposed on either side of and below the portion of the feed tube under said retort for propelling debris from areas of said wind box out of reach of said reverse thread worm towards said reverse thread Worm.

4. A stoker comprising a perforated retort, a hopper, a feed tube interconnecting said hopper with said retort, a worm in said feed tube for propelling fuel from said hopper to said retort, a Wind box enclosing at least the portion of said feed tube below said retort and adapted to deliver air upwardly through the perforations in said retort, there being an opening leading from the end of said feed tube into said wind box, a reverse worm operating in said opening for removing debris that falls into said wind box from said perforated retort and feeding such debris back into said retort, said reverse thread worm being on the same shaft as the Worm in said feed tube, means for propelling and actuating said shaft, a plurality of auxiliary worms disposed below the portion of the feed tube under said retort for propelling debris from areas of said wind box out of reach of said reverse thread worm towards said reverse thread worm, and a driving connection intermediate said shaft and said auxiliary worms.

EARL J. SOURBER. 

